OSHKOSH — The U.S. Department of Defense on Thursday awarded Oshkosh Defense and Tower Industries millions in contract work for the Army and Air Force.

Tower Industries, of Greenville, earned an $87.1 million modification contract on prior work to build cast iron practice bombs for the Air Force in Greenville and Shawano. The company will complete its work by July 31, 2019.

Oshkosh Defense, an arm of Oshkosh Corp., netted a $18.5 million contract to provide "technical support" for a March contract to build Army heavy tactical vehicles, according to a Department of Defense release.

Under Thursday's award, Oshkosh Corp. would contract with the army to fine tune vehicles it will renew under a $430 million award to update 1,212 Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTV) and build 345 trailers, said John Daggett, Oshkosh Corp. vice president of corporate communications.

In these renewal contracts awarded in March, Oshkosh will strip trucks like the eight-wheeled Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck, or HEMTT, and rebuild them with upgraded parts. Many of the vehicles are more than 20 years old. The company plans to complete the contracts by November 2017.

The Defense Department solicited bids for this technical support contract online, but Oshkosh alone responded. The company would complete this contract by May 2022.

Reach Nate Beck at 920-858-9657 or nbeck@gannett.com; on Twitter: @NateBeck9